3-Cushion
SCHILTIGHEIM - Why does Claude Fath, the 72-year-old president of the Agipi company in Schiltigheim, prefer to host the whole world top of three-cushion in his Agipi Masters and not for example a World championship, a World Cup or a European championship? The answer can be clear: the French promoter of billiards has built up a great tournament in his hall, he wants to continue the event and spend the total budget to reward the top players and inspire them in an ambiance with many tv and internet camera's.
The great billiard party in the Agipi arena is intended to let the best players in the world duel with each others. They are motivated by a big prize money, which let them grow to the highest level. The world can enjoy it, not because there are so many spectators in the Agipi arena, but because all matches are broadcasted on Kozoom and the final matches on Eurosport.
The big umbrella organisations, such as UMB and CEB, would obviously prefer that Claude Fath fills the void on the calendar and occasionaly would organise a World championship, a World Cup or a European championship. The lack of organizers for the tournaments has forced the CEB even to launch a different organizational system with different rules. The matches must be shorter and more attractive.
The Agipi Masters has proved that not the lenght of the matches (less than 50 caroms) is a promotion for the billiard sport, but the quality of the players and the tension in matches between top players. For example: the final stages of the Agipi Masters on Eurosport in 2010 were followed by 3.2 different viewers, who watched the matches for one minute at least. This year the number of viewers has risen to 4.5 million!!!
Claude Fath's tournament maintains the length of fifty caroms, because he wants the audience to enjoy high averages and long runs. He has promised the players for the new edition of the Masters, the fifth in total, huge bonuses when they play a new world record highest run and best match. The prize money, the bonuses and the spectacle make the Agipi arena to a place where the most fantastic matches are played, but where the rules are always determined by Claude Fath himself.
Paul Alring (56, from Helsingör) and Ugur Düuz (42, from Ankarra) have started up an interesting discussion on a special and very popular billiard site on facebook. Paul Alring states: ,,Why is it that organizers need a budget from 70.000 to 100.000 euros for a European championship or World Cup, while the prize money is so low?'' He underlines that the budge is extremely high, because an organization doesn't have to pay only the travel costs and accommodation for players, but also for referees, delegates and people of the federations.
Paul Alring concludes: ,,Does the 'little billiard sport' think that it can compare to football? ,,Denmark, where I was born, has about 350.000 football players and billiard only 7.000, so we can not afford professional conditions in organizing tournaments.''
Ugur Düz explains that for international tournaments such as World championships and European championships the organization has to pay an amount to the CEB or UMB. And the 32 players, seeded for the final stage of a World Cup, have to be payed for their travel costs and hotel, but the organiser also pays the delegations of the federations and the referees. That brings the budget up to 100.000 euros, without the rent for an accommodation.
The big organizations, such as those in the small Dutch village Sluiskil, can afford to go much further with a budget of around 500,000 euros, but they are exceptions in the world of organizers. And now, without Sluiskil and other organizers for the next year, the number of World Cups is very alarming.
Claude Fath has circumvented all those problems and kept his own tournament rules in the five editions. The Masters is a proven success formula for players, who like to come to Schiltigheim and fight for the big money. It is impossible that the absolute top players are missing the tournament, such as happened with Filipos Kasidokostas, Nikos Polychronopoulos and Jef Philipoom at the World championship in Lima, where they didn't play because their trips were not payed by their own federation.
For the new edition of the Agipi Masters six Koreans, five French, five Belgians, two Dutch, two Greeks, two Spaniards, two Turks, an Italian, a Swede, a German and a Japanese player are invited. The only player from the top twelve of the world, who already has to play in the first heat is Tayfun Tasdemir. The other eleven are seeded in the penultimate and second group stage for the last qualification for eight places in the final stage.
Two players from the top twenty of the world are missing: Javier Teran, the Pan-American champion and winner of last week New York tournament and Chung-Bok Lee, the Asian champion.
The new concept is still hosting four young players: Haeng Jik Kim, the junior world champion, Glenn Hoffman, the European champion and the two Frenchmen Pierre Soumagne and Cédric Melnytschenko.
The tournament calendar of the Agipi Masters:
27/30 October 2011: the first four preliminary rounds
27/29 January 2012: the first two qualifying rounds
24/26 February 2012: second two qualifying rounds
22/25 March 2012: final round with eight players (knock-out, live on TV and Kozoom).